Once you've done something important with your life, it's hard not to feel like you have peaked.

This is particularly common in the world of games that encourages indie developers to put every ounce of energy they have into their projects, just for the chance of breaking through the surface of this crazy industry.

At the end of the day, we're just some folks who enjoy making games. We were never emotionally prepared for the reception that we got, and have been in a very strange personal space since the release of our studio's debut with Always Sometimes Monstersfour years ago. Though, we remain insanely grateful for this amazing position.

Get ASM FOR $1.00

As a special thanks to all of you who've found and loved our game, and for those who continue to share it with your fellow Vagabonds, we're offering DRM-Free copies of Always Sometimes Monsters for just $1.00 today.

Love, Thanks, And Appreciation

Extra gratitude to everyone at Devolver Digital, who took a ridiculous chance on some goofy neophytes with a big dream and absolutely no idea how to make games. Without their support early on, Always Sometimes Monsters may never have come to pass.

Much love to the Indie Megabooth crew, for giving us our first (and many more) chances to showcase our game at so many lovely conventions. Without which, we'd never get to meet any of you in-person.

Finally, infinite love to all of you who ever played the game. Without your passion, and desire to share it with your friends, family, and lovers, we would not be where we are today. Thank you for your grace, patience, and adoration through all of our confusing antics and awkward silences. You're the reason we love doing this.

The Future

The project has turned into something far larger than we ever realized it could be, advancing almost every aspect of our formula with more depth and complexity. It may be a difficult waiting period, but we promise the game will be ready one day. Until then, we hope you enjoy life to its fullest, and join us for the inevitable launch.

Today is the Chinese New Year, and 2018 marks 'The Year of the Dog'. Being the game studio we are, it would be ridiculous not to celebrate. Thus, we're giving away 2,018 Steam keys for our adorable, procedurally generated, arcade-golf title, Dog Gone Golfing.

For those of you who haven't played the game, it's a casual 2D golf experience, wherein dogs use hockey pucks to play golf across a variety of bizarre landscapes. There's a lot packed into the game, including customizable canines and pucks, a 2-player competitive mode, and an unlimited number of courses to slapshot your way through.

ALSO, FREE SHIPPING!

That means any of y'all who haven't snagged a Vagabond Dog T-Shirt, or were eyeing our snazzy poster sets can now grab them without worrying about the postage. Just use discount code YEAROFTHEDOG at checkout, to receive the promotion.

HOW TO COLLECT YOUR KEY:

To collect your free Steam key for Dog Gone Golfing, simply fill out this handy questionnaire and we'll e-mail you the code, once we've vetted your responses (gotta prove you're not scammerbotz, after all). Codes will be going out in batches every Friday, starting next week.

Thank you all again for your continued support, and faith in our little studio. Let's continue making 2018 a great year, and celebrate all the good times we'll have!

After quite some time coming, we are very happy to finally announce that Always Sometimes Monsters is now available for PlayStation 4 in most regions. It's the same intense narrative game as on PC and other platforms, but presented in HD resolution and with some trophies.

This is our console debut, and first foray into the PlayStation community. We'd like to take a moment to welcome all the new Vagabonds joining our tribe today, and thank you all for playing. We will continue looking for more platforms going forward, as opportunities present themselves.

It is exciting to have so many new players joining. Together, we can begin to unravel the layers in each of our stories, and come to a better understanding of ourselves. Don't be afraid to share your experience with Always Sometimes Monsters, as there are depths learned only in communication of difference and contrast.

In collaboration with BitBazaar 2017, this year's Canadian National Exhibition is hosting a new experience called GamingGarage. Attendees will find a plethora of new games from local indie developers, including Vagabond Dog's latest.

On Saturday Aug 26 and Sunday Aug 27, from 4pm to 10pm, those who come by (Table #15 in the Gaming Garage) will be treated to fresh demos for our latest games, including new competitive and single-player modes for Dog Gone Golfing. They'll also be able to witness the debut of a new project called Keeping House from Jane Dunlop and Alexander Svaikauskas (read more about it here).

Hello Vagabonds,We know you have been waiting patiently for updates on Sometimes Always Monsters. Many of you had begun to speculate if we'd abandoned the project, run into extreme difficulty, or just plain died.

The truth is, we have been electively quiet and hard at work on the game.

It is a much bigger endeavor than we thought when first announcing our optimistic 2016 release plan. Since failing that, we have all been working overtime so that the game may meet our internal quality standards and release to all of you as soon as possible.

Rest assured, the game is getting better each day.However, despite all of this, you faithful deserve updates.

We know how much you miss us on the daily, but this recent absence from the community has pushed the team in exciting new directions.

So, we've partnered with an independent production company to launch our official YouTube channel.

This channel is currently featuring a short documentary and a playlist of clips from our west-coast bus tour on the way to PAX West.

Going forward we will be uploading new content of varying quality on a semi-routine schedule. Our studio has never done anything like this before, and so we will be relying on your feedback as we continue.

Completing development on Sometimes Always Monsters remains our top priority. This was the reason for us partnering with Curio Films to develop this project while our creative team continues their work.

Please, enjoy the show and set your minds at ease.The game will be yours before long, 2020 is less than 4 years away!

The rumors you have heard are true. This coming weekend we will be embarking on a west coast press tour through the heart of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland.

Each night we will be hosting a gathering at the public locations listed below. Our bus will arrive at 6:00 PM and we will be there until 9:00 PM. We welcome all.

Come, join us. We'll have food and drink, as well as free shirts and swag for all visitors. You'll also be able to play Sometimes Always Monsters and meet the Vagabond Dog crew in-person as they solve life's mysteries and debug.

Although this was not our first E3 as individuals, this was the first time we'd ever been to the show with our own game and as a studio. Situated outside the convention proper in the renegade Devolver parking lot, naturally things had a very different feel to them.

The friends who we only seem to see doing these amazing shows welcomed us with open arms, and the conversations carried on like there wasn't months between breaths.

New faces, eager to see something new stumbled upon us and walked away with gifts and more than they expected.

These were the things that coloured the show for us.

We'd like to thank everyone at Devolver Digital for helping us have such a great first E3, especially the ground crew, logistics folks, drivers, child laborers, and general helpers who made it all run so smoothly.

Especially for this excellent video series:

Also, some special appreciation to the Indie MEGACORP for allowing us some quiet space to run press demos (our game's verbosity appreciates it).

To all those who couldn't catch us at the show and those who miss us already, fret not.

We will be back in LA soon, and other places along the west coast. All roads forward lead to launch, but we have some exciting plans on the way there.

For attendees seeking to play Sometimes Always Monstersor chat with the scoundrel developers themselves, select appointments are currently being made with prestigious individuals like yourself.

Vagabond Dog changes its approach to winning hearts and minds at the show every year. This June, Vagabond Dog will focus its attention on the upcoming release of Sometimes Always Monsters. It will be the only playable game Vagabond Dog presents at the forthcoming show, in order to provide attendees a complete immersion.

Additionally, our upcoming VX console will not make an appearance at the upcoming E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles this June, and will be unveiled later this century.

Those seeking hands-on time with the game or an interview with the vagabonds themselves should send an inquiry to gypsy@vagabonddog.com to schedule an appointment. Please bear in mind, that there are few slots still remaining.

Not to be confused with 2014's critically acclaimed title, Always Sometimes Monsters, sequel Sometimes Always Monsters is set for late 2016 release, and also probable confusion no matter how hard we try to explain the two different titles

Fans attending PAX East this weekend can get the original title (Always Sometimes Monsters) for free by playing the sequel (Sometimes Always Monsters) in the Indie Megabooth. During PAX East, the original title from 2014 will be 90 percent off through Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/274310/.

In this upcoming sequel, you've finally arrived: the love of your life is at your side, your book is on the best-seller's list and everything is as it should be – stable, comfortable and well-deserved. But success isn't all it's cracked up to be. Despite all of your achievements, whispers from the shadows grow, calling you a monster, manipulative, and unrepentant.

Only you can decide if they're right.

Seeking inspiration, you join a cross-country bus tour with a band of like-minded authors as each stop presents a new city to explore. Fans and strangers alike invite you into their lives – forever shaping their worlds for better or worse as you pass through town with a whirlwind of choice and consequence.

Fork Parker explained, "When they first brought it to us, we got so confused by the title. Totally thought it was their first game, the one I'd already paid for. Figured the Vagabonds were trying to scam us. Put a bounty on their head and everything. Thankfully one of the interns opened the damned thing, cleared the whole mess up. The game's incredible. Would have been a total shame if one of my hitmen finally got to them."

"These games are antithetical to one another, and so their naming must mirror that," clarified Justin Amirkhani, Creative Director at Vagabond Dog. "We spent a long time considering alternatives, but this was the only thing that we felt truly fit. Adding a number to the end just didn't make sense because this game doesn't feel like a forward progression. It's more like an opposite, or a reflection of the first."

Sometimes Always Monsters is set for later this year, in the meantime stay in touch on Twitter @VagabondDog and keep up to date with Devolver's various ramblings at @DevolverDigital.

We may have travelled halfway around the world, but you Australians definitely made us feel at home. Thanks to everyone who visited our booth during PAX Australia, to all the welcoming indie developers we met, and to everyone that made sure the show ran smoothly.

It was a pleasure getting to talk to some of you more distant fans, and we are glad you all had such a good time playing Sometimes Always Monsters. We're already making changes to the game based on feedback and observations during the demos.

The Australian press was also on-hand and ready to hear more about the games. We had some great conversations with the following folks that delve more into what SAM is really all about:

At the end of this month, the Vagabond Dog pilgrimage will be departing for PAX AUS in Melbourne, Australia.

The convention runs Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 and we'll be there featuring the latest build of Sometimes Always Monsters, some prototype projects, and our various physical wares.

This will be the farthest from home our journey together will have taken us, and we are excited to meet those of you on the other side of the world who have written us.

It's mind blowing to see all the different places your Project Continuity submissions have come from. We will continue looking for more opportunities to interact with those of you all around the world. It's a small pleasure knowing how many of you are out there.

If you're attending the convention and plan on visiting our booth, we'll be in the International Indie Pavillion.

Should you feel inclined to commemorate the experience with a t-shirt, you can order one now through our store and select the Free Convention Pick-Up shipping option.

Vegemite, kangaroo, koala. Sorry, we've got it out of our system. We'll see you soon, Australia.

With our backs still aching from the return flight home, we leave PAX Prime 2015 behind us with new memories had. Thank you all for making this a fantastic show, and a wonderful return to Seattle.

It has been two years since Vagabond Dog was last in the city, and it was only by the surprised remarks of those who recognized our return that we realized how much we have grown since our first outing. To those who remember us so fondly, we appreciate your attention.

Seeing all our friends, rivals, partners, and associates in one place reminded us how large this industry can be. What we felt though was a community that reciprocated the love we showed it. To those who shared our burdens, you continue to inspire us.

Finally, the general sense of goodwill that allows a convention like this to exist is the lasting thing we steal from the show. Without the generous in time, money, energy, or all three, there would be no greater whole to be part of. To those who gave anything, our gratitude is not enough.

We are currently planning the next stop on the Vagabond Dog pilgrimage, but we are not ready to leave the warm and fuzzy feeling of PAX Prime behind just yet. If you met a vagabond or played Sometimes Always Monsters at the show, leave us a comment or e-mail pax@vagabonddog.com.

It's hard to keep track of so many friends, so let's make it easier by talking lots.

To make things a little more exciting, we've decided to pre-load each of our demo stations with save files sent to us through Project Continuity.

This means that each player will have the option to see how Sometimes Always Monstersbegins by starting as a brand new player, or by stepping into the shoes of an existing character.

The differences in experience are interesting to note.

We'll also be selling the same shirts you can get at store.vagabonddog.com, but they're on sale right now.

We've also enabled a free convention pick-up shipping option for all orders. If you're planning on buying a shirt from us in person, you can save a few bucks and make sure we've got your size in advance.

It's really exciting to get another opportunity to see you all. It feels like forever since we've last talked.

There's this very old concept that naming something gives it power. Once given a name, we take shape and form ourselves. Identity starts with a name, the wonder at what that label means.

Sometimes Always Monsters is not an easy name. Neither was Always Sometimes Monsters, but it's what the game had to be called. Artistic expression is driven by the absolute necessity of creation. In many ways a game like this makes itself, we just put the pieces in place.

We spent a long time considering alternatives. Adding a number to the end didn't make sense because this game doesn't feel like a progression forward. It's more like a reflection.

Similarly, this game is intended to showcase an almost opposite side of life. You're married, you're successful, everything is going well. The game begins with an awareness that the troubles you face are by your design more so than by the natural harshness of life. When you become a monster this time, there will be no surprise it's your doing.

With all of that in mind, the concept of always running into situations where we would sometimes choose to be villains provides too much absolution. Instead, we are now examining the notion of sometimes running into situations where you must always become a monster. As confusing as the difference between these may seem, it is a critical one in discussing morality.

It's easy to understand if you think about it like ASM is the slow climb up the ladder, and SAM is the quick ride down the slide. They are opposites in direction, acceleration, and sensation but both exist in pursuit of something greater. One cannot exist without the other. The theme of interrelation is something core to the concept of both games.

In the end, we could have chosen something else. Almost anything else would probably have been easier to explain.

However, the game's called Sometimes Always Monsters and we'll be waiting patiently until we understand exactly what that means.

Sometimes Always Monsters is an atypical role-playing game about our life choices, the circumstances that drive us to them, and their inevitable consequences.

Set in the modern world, players take control of a newly married author struggling to find the inspiration needed to write their second novel. With pressure to provide for your household mounting, you set out on a cross-country promotional tour with a band of like-minded scribes.

Along the journey, players will encounter those who have been changed by their words. For better or for worse, the role you play in their lives will echo through the story. As you decide your place in a world that would seek to idolize or destroy you, responsibility is what you make of it when we're Sometimes Always Monsters.

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"I like to think of it more like an antithesis than a sequel," boasts Creative Director Justin Amirkhani. "Where ASM was largely about the gruelling struggle to go from nothing to something, Sometimes Always Monsters is about the thrilling free fall from something to nothing."

While Sometimes Always Monsters will support save file imports from Always Sometimes Monsters, this new game focuses on a different story with fluid ties to the original. Decisions made in ASM will impact the world of SAM in unexpected fashion. As the journey continues on, regardless of how the story ended, you will come to new understandings as you scrutinize the decisions of your former self.

To aid our efforts in preserving the unique canon of every player's experience, and to help with our cross-compatibility testing, we are asking fans of ASM to send their save files to continuity@vagabonddog.com